CAIS Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of Korea’s representative photographer Byung-Hun Min, from 14st of July until 20th of August. Byung-Hun Min is one of the few photographers within the country steadily persistent with black and white straight photography in analogue method, showing the work by capturing the hidden beauty of subject in his own perspective through a vague grey tone screen. The exhibition is his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong, along with his new portrait series and previous flower series.
Portrait’ series mostly subjected to nude or half nude revives the sensual and mysterious female body figures. Although far from lascivious or provocative, there exists an eclipsed obscurity that rather stimulates an embedded instinctive curiosity of human. The pictorial texture and a misty scene remind of hand smudge on charcoal drawing.
As such expression minimizes the outer characteristic of an actual model in recognizable form the viewer becomes more unconsciously involved into the work by striving to read the distinct feature on the subject.
The way of revealing beauty through hiding is consistent in his flower series. Though more than half of image is covered with blurred flowers at the front, by doing that, it gives scarcity of the beauty in flowers ironically. Flower images losing focus intentionally express beauty of abstract forms given in the nature and sunlight more dramatically than color prints.
As one of the most representative photographers in Korea, Byung-Hun Min has committed to black and white photos since 1980s. He does all the process of shooting, developing and printing out pictures manually by himself in an analogue way. Not too strong, but subtle and deep grey tones of his photo would fascinate you.
Min’s work has been widely exhibited in the world-renowned galleries such as Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica and Baudoin Lebon Gallery in Paris, and collected by established institutions including the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Centre National des Arts Plastiques in Paris. Byung-Hun Min was selected as a winner of 2011 Korea Art Critic Association Prize in the department of creation.
At the second half of this year, he will be having a solo exhibition at La Galerie Particuliere in Paris and an invitation exhibition at FFotogallery in Britain.
